


Home Invasion

by marnies



Series: The Sleepovers [2]
Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt Richie Tozier, I haven't decided yet, I just love these two... So Much, Lesbian Beverly Marsh, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Probably pre-reddie, Sleepovers, Solidarity, Tree Climbing, breaking in - Freeform, i guess, oh man i'm the worst at tags, or pre hanzier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 11:23:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13635300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marnies/pseuds/marnies
Summary: ... And then there was Richie.





	Home Invasion

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, team! I already posted this on Tumblr, but now it's actually edited and hopefully easy to read. You don't have to read Of Course we Love Bill, but you know. This is set after that. Love you; mwah ~

Beverly’s home life was iffy, to say the best.

It had been bad before the incidents, but she’d be lying if she said that her father’s grip on her neck hadn’t tightened. He worried about her, he said. He worried when she ran off, when she hung out with boys, and when she disappeared and came back with a sweater that wasn’t hers. It took all Beverly’s self-control to remind herself that he wasn’t just doing what any good, concerned parent would do. A good parent wouldn’t keep her to himself. A good parent wouldn’t get drunk and pin her to the when she tried to go out at night. Some nights, she couldn’t stay at home at all.

Bill was supportive, being the way that he was, and had offered to let her stay at his place when it got too rough. As grateful as she was, Bev couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable staying with Bill. She’d just “broken up” with him, after all, and even she knew it would be weird without the other Losers.

At 12:23, Friday morning, Beverly Marsh stood at the top of her apartment’s fire escape. She was in her pajamas. She knew she couldn’t stay there for long. Frantically, she tried to align her thoughts.

Bill’s house would be a last resort. She didn’t want to bother him again so soon after admitting her feelings. He’d told her that he’d known the whole time, but hurt remained in his eyes, and Beverly didn’t want to test that.

Stan’s parents she didn’t know well, other than that they were religious and probably uptight, and wouldn’t take too well to finding her camped out on the floor. Plus, if they were anything like their son, they probably wouldn’t have any pillows that weren’t decorative, or any carpet to sleep on. She giggled despite herself.

Eddie’s was out of the question. If Ms. K saw her again, she’d probably lock him inside for a week and get him tested for STDs.

Mike’s was too far away. She’d never be able to walk all the way there, and even if she could, where would she sleep? The barn?

Ben’s parents seemed alright, but Beverly remembered Ben mentioning once that they were still paranoid about the missing kids. All the doors and windows would be locked. And besides, like Mike, he lived too far away.

Then there was Richie. Bev had met his parents once. They didn’t seem awful, maybe just as confused with their son as the rest of the world was. She wasn’t sure how they’d take to finding her. Before she had a chance to finalize any plan, she heard a thump from inside the apartment. She raced down the steps without another fleeting thought.

Gravel dug into the soles of her feet through thin socks as she ran. She didn’t think too much about where she was going, heart racing too fast for her mind to work. It was only until she was two blocks away from the building that she stopped, panting, and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

Beverly looked around in the sudden silence. This was Richie’s neighborhood.

At 12:56, Friday morning, Beverly Marsh climbed the tree in front of Richie’s bedroom window and broke in.

Beverly didn’t realize how cold it had been outside until she climbed into the warm house and felt her whole body shiver as if it had been saving it for this moment. She’d never been in here before, but it somehow seemed to radiate waves of comfort and warmth; Richie’s obnoxious snoring was already familiar. Bev realized she was exhausted. She navigated about the bed, careful as not to disturb its resident, and grabbed a blanket scrunched up at his feet. She gently pulled a pillow out from under Richie’s arm. Richie didn’t wake up, but he muttered something that definitely included the word “worm,” and rolled over as if stirring. She froze, but he didn’t make another move. With that, she set up a makeshift bed on the carpet.

At 1:03, Friday morning, Beverly Marsh fell asleep.

 

* * *

 

Someone was breathing in his ear.

Maybe not in his ear exactly, but there was most definitely someone in the room that wasn’t him, and it was most definitely breathing in the vicinity. His first thought was that it was his mom checking in for some reason, standing over by his door; creepy as usual, but harmless (Richie didn’t understand his mom any more than she understood him). But it wasn’t her. His mom was out of town, and his dad had left the night before for a business trip. The breathing came from the floor right beside his bed. Richie was frozen for a few seconds. He couldn’t see the threat if he didn’t reach right above it to grab his glasses, and if he tried that, the thing on his floor would know he was awake, and who knew what might happen then?

What if It was back?

After a few seconds had passed, and his heart rate had picked up, he realized the thing wasn’t moving. It wasn’t advancing on him, wasn’t sniffing him, wasn’t cutting off a lock of his hair, or anything (he couldn’t help but feel just a little bit disappointed; Richie had always wanted a secret admirer).

Proceeding with caution, he turned onto his right side to snatch his glasses from the bedside table. This motion didn’t go as smoothly as anticipated, and he instead knocked his glasses, as well as the glass of water sitting beside them to the floor. Right next to the breathing lump. He sucked in a breath. It stirred.

“What the fuck?” it demanded.

“Wish I knew what to tell you, shapeless mass at my bedside,” Richie’s mouth retorted without his consent, “but truth be told, that’d be a lot easier to answer if _ I _ were the one camped out watching  _ you _ sleep.”

“Oh my god.” The voice was familiar, that was for sure. And it was definitely human, from what Richie could make out, a head coming out of a blue mass that looked suspiciously like the blanket he thought he’d kicked to the end of the bed. At least he wasn’t about to die or anything. Richie fumbled blindly on the carpet, feeling around until the person guided his hand to his glasses. He sat up against the headboard, shoving them on.

“Beverly?”

She blinked at him sleepily, her hair tousled. She was in her pajamas, but she didn’t seem to have anything else on her. Richie glanced at the open window. She must have broken in at some point overnight. What had he fallen asleep anyway? 11:30? 12:00?

Once realization set in, guilt crossed Beverly’s face. She stood up too quickly, almost knocking even more shit off the table, and tried awkwardly to put his pillow and blanket back where they came from while she babbled.

“God, oh Jesus, I’m so sorry Richie--I-I meant to be out of here before you woke up, but I didn’t know where else to go and I just--”

“Slow down, Red.” It took a lot of self-control right then not to say something stupid or do a Voice, but Beverly was distressed. Richie bit his tongue.

Beverly sighed and dropped the pillow she’d been trying to put back behind his head. “Sorry. My dad was drunk, and I couldn’t stay at home. I guess your place was all I could think of.”

It took a second for that to set in. It was just too early for this. Richie glanced at his alarm clock.

9:49 AM.

_ Well, shit. _

“Well, shit.” Beverly was looking too. He must have forgotten to set the alarm last night. Richie swung his legs over the bed and ripped the blanket off, not caring if Beverly saw him in his boxers.

“Want to ditch class?”

 

* * *

 

They had ditched school that day, and Beverly had spent the next night over as well. She’d borrowed a loud shirt with a pair of shorts she couldn’t believe Richie even owned, and they’d wasted the day with milkshakes and cigarettes and two whole dollars’ worth of arcade games. After that, she’d noticed Richie start to leave his window open at night, just in case. It was embarrassing, but a little sweet too.

Since then, Bev started staying over a lot more often. Her dad wouldn’t notice if she left in the middle of the night; he probably just assumed she went to school early. After a month of frequent visits, she began to leave more and more of her clothes and blankets at Richie’s house, and she began to take more and more of his clothes home with her, until they reached a point when they completely lost the distinction between “mine” and “yours.” Beverly didn’t mind at all. At least when they dressed alike, she wouldn’t have to worry about her dad seeing her come home in a boy’s sweatshirt. 

Today was the first day of summer. Beverly thought it didn’t feel like as much of a big deal as it should’ve. She and Richie had left with the best grades of the class, earning a lot of accusing glares from their teachers and peers, since they had also been the biggest disruptions when placed together. Beverly guessed it didn’t matter what people thought, though. A grade was a grade.

So, it was early morning on the first day of summer. Richie had been reading comic books in bed for a while, and Bev had joined him wordlessly once she’d woken up. She couldn’t imagine he’d been reading for long; his eyes were as clouded with sleep as her brain. The book was something about a superhero in tights, but she didn’t get much of it, having started in the middle. It was colorful. She flipped onto her belly so her mouth was buried in the cushion, and her voice came out muffled.“I bet we could be a superhero duo.”

Richie snorted. “Sure. TrashBoy and, uh…” He paused to rub his eyes. “Bev-Girl? I’d shoot garbage out of my ass, and you’d, like, turn into a beaver or someth--OW!”

He rubbed the arm Beverly had just jabbed.

“Wanna do something today?” Beverly propped herself up on her elbows. “You’ve only said a sentence and I’m sick of listening to you.”

“She’s feisty,” Richie began in an announcer’s Voice. “She’s firey, she’s feral, and she’ll gnaw you to the bone with her little buck--OW! Stop it!”

“You’re a dickhead, Richie.” Beverly was smiling now. “I’m serious. Let’s do something stupid today; it’s summer.”

“Something stupid, you say, hnm?” Bev hadn’t heard this Voice before, but it sounded like the poor imitation of a particular radio ad that was all over the place recently. The guy in it constantly said things like  _ ‘hnmm?’  _ and  _ ‘see here, eh?’  _ and all of a sudden it struck her as hilarious. “I’ll show you stupid Miss, y’see?” 

He closed the book and pushed off the bed.

Beverly giggled all the way through getting dressed, already in a good mood. Richie made dumb faces in the mirror while they brushed their teeth, almost making her spew toothpaste all over the counter. Tying his shoes, Richie lifted his knee to take the position of a dog taking a piss, and Beverly pushed him over, disrupting his fragile balance. He spilled onto the floor. Today was going to be a great day.

At 9:02 on the first morning of summer, golden sunshine shone lazily on the pavement as Rich and Beverly walked, turning dewdrops into glitter. Beverly was surprised at how early they’d gotten out, although she supposed the quietness of Richie’s parents should have been an implication of the time. They were a nuisance, as usual, laughter echoing in the empty suburb street. Richie led the way to a patch of woods near the quarry.

“I’ve been eyeing this tree for weeks now,” he explained. “It’s a monster. I say whoever makes it up the highest buys the other cigs for a month.”

Bev looked the tree up and down. It towered above all others on the slanted, leaf-strewn ground, giving off the odd, chilly vibe of being older than her and maybe even her parents. It’s crooked fingers reached to grab the sky, narrowing at the very top. A brittle branch broke off in the wind as if to prove a point. Richie was right; it certainly was stupid.

“You’re on.”

Beverly went first, skinning her knees against bark as she climbed to the first branch. Richie hollered at her to “cover your pantaloons, Senorita,” and she threw a branch at his head. He stuck his tongue out. Beverly made it almost halfway up the tree until the branches got too narrow and too precarious for her to keep her balance. She paused for a moment to look around, her eyes welcomed by a cool blue sky, gentle wind, and the tippy-tops of other trees that this one towered over. The birds seemed to squawk at her,  _ ‘go back! You won’t make it, Beverly!”  _ When she reached the roots again, Richie was clapping.

“Bravo; encore, encore! Now let’s see how a real man does it.”

“You won’t get half as high as I did. Even I almost fell there, and your balance is shit.”

“‘Cha boy’s got it, don’t worry.” He started up the tree.

Richie did not, in fact, “got” it.

Beverly pretended to smack his ass when he crossed in front of her. On the first branch, he pretended to lose his balance, exaggerating a violent sway. Bev gestured for him to get on with it. He did, climbing up another branch, and then the next, all the while teasing her. He got up to the last branch Beverly had climbed before she came down, when she had noticed that the one above her looked unsteady. She shifted, watching as Richie reached out to touch that branch. It looked even more menacing from down here, where she could see it bend and sway in the wind. Idle nervousness descended to panic when Richie tested the branch once more, lifting a foot from the one beneath him.

“Alright, come down now!” she shouted.

She didn’t hear what he said next, but it was accompanied by a hand gesture she could pick out even from this distance. She froze as he lifted his other foot, pulling down the branch with his weight.

She was expecting it to snap. Still, Beverly screamed when it did.

At 10:46 on the first day of summer, Richie Tozier tumbled down the tree tallest tree in the woods.

**Author's Note:**

> What a ride. Hey, check out [my Tumblr.](https://externalfluidside.tumblr.com)


End file.
